Dragon Age: Pony Origins (Private)

[TheUsurper]

Archon nocked another arrow into his bow and prepared to loose it into the neck of his next victim. Suddenly, he paused. Something was amiss. He sensed another unexpected presence nearby, and his instincts screamed at him to run. He almost berated himself for being silly - he hadn't even confirmed that there was a presence yet, much less if it was hostile - until a green bolt of magic lanced out from their side and hit Midnight in the back. She fell to the ground and clutched herself in pain.

Danger, all right.

Archon turned his attention to the origin of the bolt and soon spotted the undead. For a moment, he almost thought that it was the undead that shot the bolt, but he shook his head. It was thoroughly unlikely. Undead, using magic? It couldn't be, could it? No, there was most probably a mage somewhere nearby. Or at least so he thought.

Nonetheless, the undead was a threat, and one that Midnight would soon be a victim of if it didn't die, and quickly. He briefly considered staying hidden in the shadows and letting Clover take care of it, but he concluded that she would have to concern herself more with dodging the inevitable continued fire of whatever mage there was rather than returning it. So he raised his bow at the undead's neck, just as he had done for all the others before it, and let go of the bowstring.

The arrow soared through the air. With any luck, it would hit its target.

[Cainiam]

Gossan Post:

Gossan stared up at the pegasi, daring them to come closer. Even with his reflexes, he knew the throwing axes would move too slowly and obviously to hit flyers unless they were coming straight for him, so he made sure they did. He adopted a threatening posture, hand axe singing whenever a pegasus got close enough for him to take a chunk out of. (Sustained Ability: Threaten) Soon more and more seemed to come for him, and he met each with a throwing axe to the skull, lodging it in their brains and sending them straight to the ground. Six axes flew, and six pegasi fell, yet more and more seemed to be in the air.

Gossan spun around at the cry to battle. He looked up to Tune in the air and nodded, before charging forwards, paws pounding heavily across the ground as he charged into the fray, grabbing his second war axe into his other paw. He let out a loud roar as he leapt over the remnants of the barricade and into the thick pack of undead, letting his bloodlust take over him. (Sustained Ability: Beserk) Gossan's axes whirled through the air in furious arcs, hacking and slashing at anything that presented itself to him, fury and anger driving every strike, giving him the strength to hack through bone and flesh alike. He became a flurry of axes, sickening yellow pus and black blood pouring all over him as Undead lost limbs, heads, organs, whatever he could get at he hit. A sword cut into the sinewy muscle at the top of his arm, a club smashed against his spine, an axe bit into his stomach. He ignored it all as his mind was lost to his berserk rage. He could feel no pain, only anger.

Aselia Post:

Aselia grimaced as the pegasi started striking, her eyes on the sky as she occasionally lit it up with a ball of flame, a seared pegasus falling to the ground with a sickly splat each time. She tried to keep close to Clover, but it became impossible as she was forced to dodge the diving pegasi. She was saving her change for the ground forces. Soon enough they arrived, most getting caught up fighting the knights at the front, but a few making it through the gaps. Aselia smiled and cricked her neck, raising her staff then being consumed by a bright white light. Her form widened out, assuming the shape of a fierce brown bear before filling in with the detail. (Sustained Ability: Bear Shape) Her new bear form roared out loud and charged up to the earth ponies that moved to Clover.

A massive paw slapped one to the ground, easily snapping its neck backwards as it fell. Her jaws clamped around another's head, yanking it this way and that before tearing it off and spitting it off to the side. She stood up on her back legs as three more approached, roaring loudly before stomping downwards, outright crushing two beneath her paws while the other flew backwards to land in a crumpled unmoving heap. She turned back, checking on Clover just in time to see Midnight take a spell clearly meant for her. Her rage locked on to the undead casting it. She roared again and charged, four paws slamming kicking off dust before pouncing at the undead, gripping it by the back of its neck in her mouth and shaking it around like a chew toy before tossing it away. She looked at Midnight, intelligence in her bear eyes before turning away again and moving back to keeping the ground undead away from the rear line.

NPC Post: Knights of Redcliffe

The Knights of Redcliffe fought hard at the front line. Seeing both the dog and the warden charge into the fray, decimating undead as they went only built up their confidence. They fought with bravery and strength, but even so, the overwhelming numbers wore them down. Their first casualty screamed as a blade thrust right through his abdomen, before being silenced by a brutal club to the skull and slumping to the ground, quickly being stomped down by the hooves of more undead. Another knight fell to a surprise strike from an undead pegasus, smashing into his back so hard it ended them both. Ser Perth and the others kept on fighting however, shields catching slashes, blades biting back, arrows peppering pegasi, for the moment the battle seemed to be going well.

NPC Post: ???

The undead mage watched its sickly bolt intently, watching it sail towards Clover. (Activated Ability: Paralyze) The archer had to be stopped. It knew this simple fact, and when its bolt instead hit an interloping bat pony, it grimaced. The batpony writhed in agony as the debilitating pain rendered her unable to focus enough to move or resist anything. Its gaze didn't linger however, a spell of weakness began to appear in front of it, ready to fire, when an arrow buried itself in the back of its neck. Its eyes instantly drained of life as it started to fall forward, but was snatched up in the jaws of a bear before it could fall. It was already dead before it was shook around, Archon knowing his arrow hit, yet most would see the bear that crushed it into oblivion.

Back at the castle walls, eyes flashed open as a deep breath was drawn. A silver unicorn with piercing green eyes frowned deeply, his horn glowing a sickly black. Wasted mana. He watched the distant fight from his perch on top of the gate and frowned again. They were putting up too much of a fight. His lord would not be pleased to hear this. Whoever these mercenaries who entered town were, they fought with skill the unthinking dead were no match for. Scores were dying, even the knights were uncharacteristically strong, bolstered by unseen magic and increasing morale. A smirk then replaced his frown as he began to chuckle deeply. They could fight all they wanted, but in the end it was of no consequence. They had limitless amounts of undead, the ponies would never last until sunrise. He closed his eyes again.

One of the pegasi stopped mid-dive bomb, suddenly turning away and dodging as it redirected away from a knight, and aimed towards a group of poorly armed pegasi. It flapped its wings lightly, flying right above a pegasus Knight of Redcliffe who seemed to be keeping them safe. As soon as he was above the militia pegasi he flew straight downwards, hitting one of the poorer pegasi with a smash and sending them spiralling to the ground, before looking up at the fancier one. A choking gas seemed to leak out of its pores as it almost seemed to smile at Tune, the gas sapping his strength as it washed over him. (Sustained Ability: Miasma) The pegasus then lunged for him, using its entire body as a weapon.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight was gasping for breath on the ground, the undeads spell still running around her body. She knew she needed to move, she was on the ground, being useless, after preventing Clover from being a victim of this spell. She was the easiest target in the world right now, on the ground, defenseless, and part of her expected to be die right then and there, yet, as the pain slowly subsided, she found herself still alive. She slowly found her way to her hooves, if slowly. She looked around her, the world currently just a blur. She could see what the front line looked like, a chaotic mess, but none of them were getting past. Clover seemed fine, as did Archon, they all seemed to be alive. She stood up properly, before doubling over and coughing some blood onto the ground.

She refused to let that stop her, as she stood up, despite the protests of the spell. But, its’ pain slowly vanished, until Midnight felt it leave her alone. Still, she was hurt from it, and felt exhausted from the spell. She limped away from the front line, and kept going still she reached the shadows behind Clover. She reached for her saddlebag, and pulled out a bottle. She opened the lid, and tipped it skywards as its’ red content went down her throat and into her body, and it wasn’t wine. She felt her eyes dilate, as a craving was satisfied, and she felt her energy return in waves. She let out a small smirk as she emptied the vase, her heritage did have its’ advantages, such as this moment.However, when she tossed the bottle away, she hadn’t cleaned her face, and her mouth had a very distinctive shade of red. She was limping still, her powers didn’t heal instantly, she still needed some time. Though, that didn’t mean she was useless. She raised her crossbow, and started firing up at the Pegasi in the sky that were undead. She couldn’t fight them in the night sky, not yet, so firing up at them was her best option.

[Dabom444]

Broken stood at her beacon of healing as she continued to lace spells around to those who needed it most. When those who got hurt she casted numbing spells upon them and restored their energy with magical strife. (Rejuvinate)

She slid back and around her staff as though it was her objective to stay there. Her spot to hold her ground and not surrender unless dire situations came to pass. She had given Grym a nod as she passed and healed a small cut she saw on her foreleg. It was going well for not having lyrium potions and she gave herself credit for rationing out her spells.

However it wasnt ment to go well for long as the undead began their full out assult and eventually one fell. She cursed and rested for a second, she needed to pace herself. She needed to focus on keeping it level and not panicing. She inhaled and exhaled, letting her natural reserve refresh before she casted another spell at Gossan to help his constant blows he was recieving. (Lifeward)

She gasped and felt her legs turn to jelly as her mana dissapeared. He wouldnt die, not here with that spell on him. Taking another few breaths she dodged a rock thrown through the air at her . It landed just a few feet away and came to a stop. That was the first attack she had upon her....she wondered why there were not any more attempts at ending her as she was the healer.

Humming she readied her horn to cast more until a sound of wings came from above. She snapped her eyes to the sky in time to see a undead pegasus who had several arrows within it snap its jaws around her hood and swung her away from her staff and into the ground. Sliding against the ground she grit her teeth, giving a small squeak. She forced her hooves under her and pushed herself up, However her recovery was weaklived and the pegasus was upon her with savage anger.

The small unicorn ducked under a snapping mouth and pulled her hooves up to block her face from its followup swing. Her weight wasnt able to hold her solid and she stumbled. It was times like these that she wished she knew agressive magics. Shaking her head to clear her mind she rolled to the left in a attempt to scramble away as her mana wasnt available for teleporting away.

Seeing her roll away the undead flapped its wings and landed right upon her back as she stopped rolling. Broken cried out and thrashed her body to shake it off until it flapped its wings and gained momentum to lift them both up into the sky. Its corroded and rotten wings began to buckle with both of their weights. Broken struggled trying to get away, she felt its grip slip then she felt her gut lurch to her stomach as the undead divebombed downwards.

She gave a shrill scream as the undead suicided and slammed them both into the ground hard. She tumbled and screamed behind gritted teeth, her eyes screwed shut in pure pain as various parts of her body yelped at her. The undead had snapped into a jumbled mess nearby her. Broken lifted her head and moaned in pain as she opened her right eye to get a view of her surroundings. She was still behind friendly lines so that was good, her vision blurred and she let her head fall to the dirt. She was out of commission now and couldnt think straight. (Incapitated, Fragile mare)

[TheUsurper]

That did it. Archon watched, satisfied, as overkill swiftly descended upon the undead whose neck had most recently been penetrated by his arrow. He turned his attention back to the front, just in time to see Midnight limp into his patch of shadow that he'd hidden himself in. He had no time to focus on her, however; the other troubles were far greater at the moment.

Placing another arrow in the bowstring and pulling it back, he craned his neck to spot the next target he'd have to deal with. He then realised that the threats in the sky were more pressing when one of them descended on the lone healer and took her down.

Archon swore. Taking a brief glance at Midnight, whom he noticed was looking a lot better than she did previously, other than the large red stain on her face, he shouted, "Midnight! Can you go and help her? If you manage to heal her as quickly as you healed yourself we stand a good chance of keeping her alive!"

He turned his gaze up to the sky, giving a powerful flap of his wings and propelling himself upwards. Once in the sky, he took a moment to stabilise his shot and loosed it at one of the undead pegasi, much like he had done previously with the ground troops. Once again, he didn't wait to see the fruit of his labour; there were more important things to tend to. His projectiles soon flew through the night sky, one after another, flying through and thinning the crowd. All the while, he kept flying backwards, hoping to keep out of the range of the enemy.

[Walker]

There wasn't much involved when it came to Tune’s plan. Slow or kill as many of them before they had actually got within range of the knights, limiting their numbers as much as possible, and thus increasing the combatant’s chances. Not only that, it created the illusion that Tune was part of the battle, rather than just the guarded delivery boy that he was. He had to admit, there were worse things than being guided around the battlefield by armoured knights, so he and a group of pegasi could drop weighted nets on groups of zombies, then watch it set afire. It was surprisingly easy, and the young pegasus congratulated himself for thinking ahead. That was, until there was a sharp scream followed by a faint thud almost directly behind him. Tune turned his head to see the hollowed, rotting face of one of the undead baring down on him.

Tune let out a yelp and made an effort to draw his short sword, though as the undead drew closer a choking smell invaded his nostrils, making him sick to his stomach, couple with a sudden coughing fit that nearly made him puke where he flew. His wings felt heavy, and it was more then an effort to keep them flapping, and drawing his sword to strike out at the lumbering dead was much more of a chore then it had ever been. Luckily, he had managed to get the blade out of his sheath by the time that the undead crashed into him, though he had only managed to stick the flat of the blade between the two of them, sending the grinning undead pinging lightly off the metal, and the weakened bard sprawling through the air, managing to right himself after plummeting several feet in just under a second.

He panted grimly, cold eyes meeting dead ones as the grin never left the monster’s face. Its wings flapped as it charged at him again, but this time, Tune was ready, he levelled his sword and pointed it directly at his opponent, closing his eyes and bracing his body for the impact. But it never came. Tune cracked his eyes open and nearly panicked when he creature was nowhere in sight. The rush of wind moving just above his head caused him to sluggishly roll his body to the side, feeling the weight of the pegasus zip through the air where his body had been moments before. Though he was still slowed by the creature stench, and his left wing was clipped by its forehoof, making the bard grit his teeth at the numbing sensation that spread through his wing. His muscles were pumping overtime trying to keep him in the air, and he gave his opponent a way grin. “R-right. Not as dumb as you look.” He mused, before fishing into his saddlebag as it charged yet again. A leather canteen was revealed from the bag, and Turn uncorked it in a hurry. Yellowish oil spilt from the canteen as his entire body shook with strain. His eyes locked on the figure as it charged closer, waiting for his best moment to strike. It wasn’t unlike a conversation with a noble from a rival house, dodging the wrong conversation topics, taking a few hits or miss questions here and there, but not faltering until he saw an opening…

Tune gritted his teeth, sticking out his hoof that held the canteen, letting the undead run directly into it, jarring his hoof painfully, but bursting the contents of the sack over his leg and the zombie’s head and back. Oil seeped into his fur and feathers, weighing him down enough that the frantic flapping of his wings wasn't enough. The zombie plummeted to the ground, though Tune wasn't far behind, though he descended at a much slower rate. The young bard’s wing and foreleg ached, but he dragged himself over to the twisted body of the zombie, jamming his hunting knife in the base of its skull. He grunted, shifting his weight around himself as his weakness slowly faded, bringing to light that strain in his wings from the oil that had managed to dot his feathers. He shook his head, before drawing his sword. The easy ride was good while it lasted, he supposed.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym was bathing in the blackened blood of the undead. With each wave of her swords, limbs were cleaved from their owners; some cleanly, others violently. She hated them, more than anything in the world. More than the templars who chased her endlessly as a filly. More than the ignorant villagers who shunned her because she had a horn. Each limp corpse hitting the ground gave the mare some level of sick satisfaction. It was revenge to her, in a way. Kill them by the hoards because they took someone by me. It was her justification. The town behind her mattered not.

Unexpectedly, the beasts changed tactics. Instead of trying to wash over her like a tsunami of putrid flesh, a number of them turned their attentions on her and her alone, ceasing their charge at the knights. Unfazed by the approaching group of shamblers, Grym raised her blades high inviting more undead flesh to the chopping block. Allat once they charged, carried forward by the lack of self preservation instincts. The warden, however, was not one to leave a challenge unmet. Rushing forward with the same recklessness, she locked eyes with her foe a moment before they leapt at each other.

Cold, rotting flesh collided hard with her warm, living body mid air in a bone crunching impact. The zombie's body visibly crumpled from the force of the tackle, but if Grym had been harmed at all was still questionable for on lookers. It hurt, but she'd never yelp or cry or shout out in pain; not for these things. Still in the air, blades found the creatures neck and instantly decapitated it, showering her with thick ichor on her short trip back to earth. The mare was just about to taunt them, but then she heard it. A shrill cry that sounded as if it came from--

"Broken?" Grym said, panting as her exertion caught up. She tore her eyes from the mob coming at her just long enough to catch a glimpse of her and an undead rocketing towards the ground. A few screams later, everything went silent. "Broken..." Grym took a step back towards the line, however, a return from the fray wasn't part of her foes' plans. Before she could even react, undead dog-piled threatening to crush her frame under their immense mass. The surprise caused her to her weapons, but that wasn't the worst part. As disgusting, disfigured bodies blotted out her view of where Broken had went down, visions of another pony whose demise was ushered by the same abominations carved at her mind.

The sound that pierced the night was something between a shriek, a roar, and a battlecry. Grym didn't didn't know the noise she was making was, only that it was the best she could do to express her rage, determination and sadness. Redcliffe? No longer important. The deal? What deal? All that mattered was getting to Broken. She had held off on using some of her abilities to preserve her partner's strength, but now she needed everything to save said mare's life. So she let the agony of the undead's biting and striking surge through her form, spurring her on and giving her the strength to succeed(Sustained Ability: Blood Frenzy). She remembered where her weapons were, and with a single mental command, took them back into her telekinetic grasp. Roaring, the mare swung her black blade over her head from outside of the pile, easily severing one of the monsters rear half from his body and spill its entrails on the ground. The blade continued on its destructive arc, hitting another and another (Sustained Ability: Momentum) as the force of her strikes and the blade's weight allowed it to easily go from target to target until she'd carved her way out.

Beaten and bruised, Grym pushed on. Either ignoring the other undead, or quickly incapacitating any who got in her way as she galloped back to the knight's line. She saw them struggling with the encroaching threat, but she didn't care. Who were they to her? The mare knew that soon, the knights would soon tire and then the hoard would start to overwhelm them. Slowing her pace, she searched behind relatively safe lines for her fellow warden. She needed to find her, even if broken was just as dead at the zombies they were fighting, if for nothing other than the closure. Grym's ears perked up, zeroing in on a moan a short distance away. Rounding a corner, she saw Broken weakly lift her head, before promptly flopping back down.

Sheathing one of her blades, Grym broke into a quick canter until she was beside her downed comrade. "I've got you..." she whispered, thinking the mare unconscious. She pressed her belly to the ground and used magic to lift Broken onto her back. The same way Grym held her blades, she held Broken in place while wielding only one sword. If the undead wanted Broken, they'd have to go through her. And if it got to hairy, then she'd just curve them a path out of Redcliffe.

[Travelaway]

Push on, Cold told himself as he ripped through the undead like a hot blade through parchment, push on or you'll die old boy, and so will these ponies fighting for what little they have left. That thought pushed him deeper into them, into the heart of their rotted ranks; some of the knights stayed on his tail, clearing a path through the undead abominations. But it wasn't fear, or honor, or even nobility that was pushing him right now, it was pure excitement and adrenaline that pushed him deeper! The crushing defeat at Ostagar had convinced him he was no longer fit for battle, that he'd become another one of those cushy little royal boys who'd gone soft and forgotten what true battle was, but now he was here in the thick of it and he loved it! 

To everyone around him this likely seemed a losing battle, but he could see it, just as clear as when he'd first become a captain, there beyond the enemy ranks lay sweet victory. He smashed through the undead with nary a thought, his body almost moving on it's own as his mind wandered to thoughts off all the glorious battles he'd had the honor of taking part in. Ostagar wasn't the end for him, and it didn't have to be the end for Ferelden either! Cold clutched the massive sword in a hoof as he spun then swung up in an arc to decimate three more of the shambling horrors. He yelled as loud as he could as he fought on, "Don't you let up! Not a one of you, this is not the end for you, and it sure as hell won't be the end for me! Show them the pain they have caused you, give it back to them ten fold! Push them back to the fields, back to the bridge, push them back all the way to the dam.n castle! Let the dead feel fear once more, just by glimpsing you, and don't you even think about stopping until you see the morning sun shimmering on your swords, you can do this, we can do this!" (Sustained ability: Rally) 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight heard the Griffon calling for her to check up on their healer. Midnight moved without a reply, if the mage went down, then they were truly in danger. She looked around, until she saw Grym moving away from the front lines.

The Warden knew the other was hurt, and Midnight stalked the mare until she saw Grym lifting Broken onto her back. Midnight ran up to the grey Warden.

"Is she.." Midnight paused when she saw the condition the healer was in. It looked bad, and unlike her, blood wouldn't heal Broken like it would heal herself.

Midnight turned her attention back to the bulk of the horde, and the knights started to buckle, with Grym gone, a large portion of their damage was missing and now the front line looked close to getting overrun.

"Grym, go back to the front. I can take care of her. I can't heal her wounds, but i can get her back on her hooves. The knights need you to hold that line, if we lose that line, we might as well lay down our weapons cause this village is doomed" Midnight ran a hoof through her hair, staining it with blood "I know that you're thinking of ditching, cause, i am too. But, we need to try, if the front line gets breached, then do to your hearts content, cause if the knights fall, I'm on a one-way ticket out of this mess. But until that happens, you gotta keep fighting"

Midnight eye'd several of the pegasi coming towards herself and Grym, more than likely trying to get Broken. Midnight raised her crossbow, and went to town on them. The 4 beasts didn't get close before the bolts went through their bodies and killed them once again. She turned her attention back to Grym.

"Now, get up there, these abominations aren't much i can't handle for now. Besides, i thought Grey Wardens were capable, fighting off hordes of Darkspawn. Not turning tail at the first signs of trouble, not a coward like me. Unless you want to admit that you are, which is fine by me"

Midnight knew her game wasn't smart and could get her killed, but if this town had any chance, Grym needed to fight. She could take care of Broken, kick-start her and get her back on her hooves. She was taunting the Warden, stupid given her history, but she wanted her home to survive. She glanced down the hill, the militia seemed to be under control, but the bulk of the horde was upon them now.

If they just lasted a bit longer, the surge would falter, and they might make it through the night.

[Cainiam]

Gossan Post:

Gossan hacked and slashed, then slashed and hacked, cutting his way through undead after undead. Black blood splashed in every direction, hacked limbs falling to the ground as Gossan was slowly obscured by a mound of corpses. He was entirely surrounded by enemies, but he fought like a dog possessed. Eager to strike and kill for his forgiveness. One jumped from his left, earning an axe through the face. A sword then sliced into his left arm, thudding into the bone and sticking there. Gossan's response was just to tighten his grip and strike it back in the neck with such force its head was hacked clean off, bone chipping and cracking with his mighty blow. The axe that lodged itself in his spine though was another story. The dog gasped as he fell forward for a moment, falling onto his knees. The undead mobbed in closer as Gossan took a pained breath, his vision going spotty.

He suddenly felt his vigour returning and let out a mighty roar. He wheeled around, axe biting through the throat of the closes undead, then into the back of his neighbour's throat. His axes flashed again and again as they mashed and diced the undead who had overwhelmed him, reducing them all to gore, before falling back to the knights. His near death experience and volatile reaction was fading his anger, allowing him to realise that death would be all he would earn out there. He charged back through, in line with a group of undead charging the ranks, before spinning around and cutting back into them. Knights of Redcliffe fought to his left and right as he held the gap, standing on the corpse of a fallen knight as he helped hold the front line.

NPC Post: Aselia

The bear that was Aselia stood between the front line and the rear ranged troops, killing all that tried to get past her. She laughed internally with every kill, the feel of their rank blood on her paws making her grin and giggle as she pounded them to death, skulls crushing under her weight. Even the pegasi that tried to dive bomb her could barely affect her bulky body as they smashed themselves apart on her. She was an unstoppable force of nature as she dealt with most of the undead that made it past the front line.

NPC Post: Knights of Redcliffe

The undead weren't letting up. Continual charges of ever ready bodies were wearing the knights down to nubs. Even with their morale, fatigue was starting to become an issue. Every swipe of a sword, and raising of a shield made them weaker and more tired. Yet the undead felt no tiredness, no fear. For every undead that fell there was another ready to take its place. The horde were winning the battle here, there was no question, but the defenders still held out. Every second they fought and bled here was another second they weren't attacking the town. The sway of battle seemed to slowly be changing. When the healer who had promised the Knights her full support fell their morale took a major hit. To make matters worse both the diamond dog and the Warden fell back to them, the Warden even pulling further back.

The knights did their best to hold their position, but casualties began to thin their number considerably. Ser Perth couldn't hold the remainder together, and a group of them seemed about to split off and flee to the city when a mysterious soldier was suddenly by their side, shouting words of reassurance. Those at the rear slowly flocked to him, forming around the brave soldier as their own leader fought to stay alive right at the front line beyond them. Even as their brothers fell to the horde the routers moved to his side, letting out cheers. "For Redcliffe!" One of them bellowed as they followed Cold back into the front line, swords raised high.

NPC Post: ???

The grey unicorn cursed again as he was forced back into his own body. Another puppet had fallen without hitting its mark. The tides were turning, but not soon enough. Already midnight was growing near and they were yet to even make it to the town. It looked like he would have to make things a bit more difficult for them. The unicorn grinned as his horn glowed black once more. The undead weren't the most powerful thing he could summon, he just needed to get closer. He clapped his hooves and a pair of undead pegasi grabbed him from the wall, lifting him gently into the air and bringing him closer. He was deposited high up on the edge of the gorge they fought in. As the pegasi flew off to join the fray he released his spell, blasting it towards them.

A black orb of energy flew through the air. When it hit the ground it sunk in, creating an odd circle of purple full of runes, that then began to spit out black smoke. In the space of five seconds the smoke then exploded to be replaced by a massive earth pony, easily out sizing Grym. At least it looked like an earth pony, but one couldn't be sure beneath the spiked metal armour that coated its entire body. A hulking chestplate, a huge helm, and leggings that didn't even leave space for a tail, which he seemed to be without. The most noticeable thing however was the massive sword it carried in its hooves, larger than even Cold's. It let out an inequine screech before smashing a shield clad hoof into Aselia and sending her bear form sailing through the air as if she was nothing. It roared as its helmet head looked around before locking onto the griffon up in the air above. It held out a hoof, a dark energy gathering there, then yanked forwards, the darkness seizing the griffon and dragging him all the way to the foul creature.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym didn't trust Midnight, but the mare had sworn an oath to her. A part of her wanted to have faith in that oath and to let her help, but promises had been made in the past that were broken once the pony she trusted had gotten what they wanted. Growling she looked up at Midnight, who did the bat winged pony think she was? Grym didn't have to go anywhere or do anything other than get Broken to safety, like she promised. Her follower was crazy. The battle's tide was turning for the worst and she wanted to stay and fight? Every second the knights lost a warrior and their line grew weaker, but she still expected Grym to go back out there. "You've lost your mind if you think I'm going to leave Broken with you while I fight to my death with these things here--" right as she was about to go on a short tirade about the failing soldiers, Cold Iron's voice pierced through the shrieking of the undead, rallying the knights of Redcliffe. Together, he and the fighters redoubled their efforts into holding off the hoard. Even Gossan had fellen back and was helping to hold the line. He, like Midnight, had sworn himself to their cause and something inside of her just couldn't leave him to fight out there alone.

Whipping her head around, she watched as they leveled the playing field once more and started to regain momentum. Sighing, she turned back to Midnight. "You shouldn't bank on legends and tales; they're all exaggeration and hearsay. Wardens of yore were frightened and desperate, the same way I am a coward." Grym leaned forward, gently depositing Broken on the ground in front of the mare. "Lucky for you and Redcliffe, I am also desperate and tired. I'll fight until the last soldier falls because I need to be in Redcliffe's good graces." Grym unsheathed her other sword and turned away from her teammates. "Keep her safe, please..." she asked quietly before galloping off towards the fighting.

She jumped back into the fray at Gossan's side, hacking in much more purposeful way now. Each slash of her sword relieved a knight, or kept the pressure focused on her and her compainion. A bright flash, and a surge of magic through her horn later, Grym's stomach nearly buckled. Some dark, perverted power snaked its way through her senses clawing at her mind. This magic was foul, fouler than her reaver powers. When the mare saw what had been birthed by the magic, she instantly knew she'd made the wrong choice. It was a monstrous thing of fetid flesh and sullied armor. Grym had seen the entire thing take place. The rune, the magic, all of it. These creatures where here with a purpose. Somepony was summoning them... Could it be him? The reaver bared her teeth at hulking mass of undead flesh. She knew that the chances of this being the same necromancer who took Onyx were slim, but slim wasn't none. Her head swam, forcing her to empty all thoughts and do what she did best.

The thing pointed into the air, grabbing Archon with some sort of dark telekinesis like force. He'd surely die if brought down into the wave of undead without backup. Looking up at the diamond dog, she narrowed her eyes. "Gossan, that thing needs to go back into the ground; the line will hold. If that thing get to the knights, they lose." Grym popped her neck and rolled her shoulders. "With me?"

[Hundashter]

Clover noticed the strange undead unicorn too late, but Midnight took the blow for her. She immediately changed her fighting stance, slowing her shots and readying herself to move at any time. ( Defensive Shot ) She took aim at the zombie, but he was swiftly killed by an arrow before being torn apart by Azelia.

However, she still found it odd that it seemed to almost seek her out, as if it still had some sentience. She didn't have long to ponder though before she went back to firing into the hords.

Then, something caught her eye. A large spell falling from teh sky. She glanced up to where it had come from and could just make out the shape of a pony high above on the edge of the gorge. She took aim at it, but was distracted when from the spell came a terrible sound, and a revnant was revealed. She'd read about them in the tower. Incredibly dangerous and deadly, they were corpses, reanimated and controlled by a powerful demon, usually pride or desire.

She knew it would ravage their ranks, but how to even hurt it? Her arrows would deal little damage, and her entropy magic would also do little against it, since it was already dead. Just then, a thought struck her. What about life then? if she used heal, a spell of creation and life, on a creature of destruction and death...what was the worst that could happen?

So, she lit her horn up with a heal spell, and tossed it at the creature, hoping for a result that didn't get them all killed.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight bowed her head to Grym as the unicorn took off into the battlefield. She knew she was walking on thin ice, if Broken died, than she could except her hand to snap quicker than anything. She looked at the mare, what worked for herself wouldn't help Broken because she doubted Broken drank blood to gain her strength. . Instead, this would have to be done with regular pony healing ingredients.

Firstly, Midnight pulled the unicorn into the shadows. It would be best if the Pegasi didn't see her, cause this might take a while. She reached into her saddlebag, pulling out a mixture of herbs, water, a mixing pot as well as bandages and already made potions. It wasn't magical the potion, but it was a great healing agent for ponies. However, she looked consequences and didn't want to force it down her throat, it might drown her.

She looked at the injuries, and picked up the bandages. It was going to hurt the mare, but Broken would come out stronger because of it. Before starting however, Midnight placed some rubber between Brokens' teeth. Didn't want the unicorn to bite anything important off now would we? Midnight quickly moved to bandaging the mare, making it tight and secure. The unicorn was probably in pain, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. After the bandages, she took some of the herbs she had, and started beating them in the pot of water, mixing it around. She winced, it smelt bad, and she was on a battlefield that involved the undead. After mixing it, its pungent smell, was enough. Midnight placed it under Broken's noise, meaning she would inhale the fumes. What it should do would be to get Broken's mouth open, as well as start to increase the mares pain threshold, and start to wake her up. At least, in theory that's what happened. She'd learn this trick many years ago after a bandit of hers was thrown from a cliff and nearly drowned.

Eventually, Midnight took the mixture, and slowly, after getting Broken sitting up, started to put it down, only little sips at a time. Broken's bodily reactions should be to swallow, without drowning. It was a long process, but it would get Broken up again, and she had promised to Grym to take care of the Warden.

She was about half done when she heard a noise behind her, of a blade being drawn. She quickly put it down and spun around, blades in hooves, to see three undead Pegasi behind her. She had completely zoned out, and they'd snuck up on her. She jumped back, dodging their attacks, but placing distance between herself and Broken. She couldn't let them harm Broken! She charged forwards, closing the distance and locking blades with two of them, but the third had eyes for the unicorn. It raised it blade, preparing for the killing blow. Midnight twisted her dagger, pushing the undead away but at the cost of her blade being lost on the ground. In exchange, her crossbow was now pointed at the undead threatening Broken, and a single bolt later, it was dead.

Turning her attention to the ones in front of her, she raised her hooves, blocking their strikes to much pain. But, she spun around, and once again, a crossbow shot later and one of them died. However, the final one was in a better position, and punched her in the face, hard. Midnight winced in pain, almost losing sight in her left eye completely. She looked up, seeing the pegasi about to murder Broken! Midnight had no blades on her, and her crossbow had a single shot left in it before she needed to reload. But, one shot was all she needed. Diving forwards, she got between Broken and the Pegasi, but her back was turned to the undead because of her awkward positioning, and it's blade went straight into her back, almost cutting her wing off. It grabbed her around the neck, putting her up against itself as it's blade rested against her neck. It was going to kill her!

"Don't you...touch her!" Was all midnight said before she did the stupidest thing she could think off. With only a single crossbow bolt as her weapon, she placed it against her left shoulderblade, and fired into herself. She felt the bolt cut through her, and as it did, screamed in pain. Her injuries finally getting to her, but her madness was successful. The bolt passed through her, and into the undeads' neck, killing it.

Midnight collapsed onto the ground, blood coming out of her head above her eye, her back and her shoulder and it agony. She needed blood, and a lot of it, to survive. She crawled forwards, reaching for her bottle which was next to Broken. Each movement hurt all over, but she needed to get up. She glanced at Broken, the mare was a perfect source of food to survive, but in doing so, she might kill the unicorn. And that would mean all her efforts would be in vain. She reached for the bottle, grabbing onto it and sculling what blood was left inside. There wasn't a lot, but it kept her alive. She stood up, soaked in her own blood, and looked at the battlefield. Some, creature, was now there. Midnight wanted to try fight it, but knew that leaving would not only endanger Broken, but it would mean her death.

[TheUsurper]

Archon was fully absorbed in killing the undead as he flew ever further backwards. At some point, he knew he would have to disengage and evade, perhaps even going so far as to have to bring his sword to bear, but not yet. Now, this was a time for his own little patch of nirvana; as undead after undead fell to the might of his arrows, he felt a sort of strange inner peace.

He notched a new arrow into his bow and was about to fire it when a sudden force tugged at him, causing him to almost lose his grip on his bow as the dark aura of telekinesis dragged him over to some unholy creature in the midst of the battlefield, one he hadn't seen before. A brief moment passed as every muscle in his body seized up in panic, but thankfully his muscle memory worked in his favour. Lifting the bow instinctively and aiming for the eye-slits in the creatures large helmet, he pulled back the bowstring and aimed.

Focus. Peace. Everything is an illusion. It cannot harm you.

A wave of peace washed over Archon. Confidently and without further pause, he let go of the bowstring and sent his arrow flying towards its target. He would not die here. He'd been paid to protect this town, and he would be ****ed if he failed without giving it his all first.

[Dabom444]

Broken had fallen into a deep subconcious state. Her heartbeat had lowered as to not bleed out right away and her body went into a sub self preservation status.

She could hear distant sounds of metal, the faint screams of death that seemed so far away. She felt like she was floating in air, as though she could spread her non existant wings and fly off to bliss.

"Ive......got.....You...." A distant voice danced through the breeze to her. It was strange to her, it was like she wasnt even connected with her body right now, like she was just sitting there within her mind listening to all that was happening. The touches that came caused slight distress but her comatose state had numbed them to near nothingness.

"Go back to the front...........Heal......Doomed........Keep fighting......" Another voice came to which she had the hardest time to place. She then felt herself moving, the speech around her became just muffled sounds as she was moved again it seemed. She felt herself floating for what seemed like days. Caught in her own thoughts as her body was moved however it was being moved. She honestly hoped that Grym would leave her, not stay and survive. What difference would it make if Broken died?

Then as though time rolled through a loop she was in what she felt must have been grass. She could still hear faint noises, However another sound came from the void. The sound of crackling water...the same that came from a waterfall. It got louder and louder, She felt herself get yanked back through a tunnel and soon her lungs ignighted.

Her body screamed at her, it screamed and screamed. Her bruises, her few broken ribs and other cuts cried at her. They begged for release, for the pain to go away. She couldnt even gain the breath to scream. Sputtering she gave a few wheezes as she found herself sitting up.

Then a potion was slipped down her throat in small doses. The insides began to warm and soon after she felt her body began to attempt to recover. Her cracked bones slid close and pieced together much like a Puzzle. She just needed to bear through it as much as she wanted to let herself fall and sleep more. Fighting ensued nearby and she knew it was undead by the putrid stench that invaded her nostrels much like the vapor. Now she was fighting her gag reflex as well as her wounds.

She had taken the potion and downed it all with a large gulp. Dropping it to the grass and giving muffled whimpers as her wounds sealed and corrected themselves. After all the pain she was back in full conciousness. Her eyes opening, no longer blurry and now feeling the wounds in full. With slight discomfort she looked around herself to see dead laying everywhere around her. Her eyes fell onto one of her saviors.

"M....Midnight.....Your bleeding.....Maker preserve me..." She said softly as she pushed her fatigued hind legs to raise up and get close. She shook her head and grabbed her gently. "Lay down now....Dont argue...." She squeaked. She looked over her wounds and gave a small whimper. "Y....you helped me....Thank you....Thank you so much....." She said soothingly, Ignoring her own fatigue and trying to figure what to do. "Y...you drink blood....to heal...."

Her horn glows brightly and she shrouds herself in her spell. (Cast: Regeneration) She feels her small cuts that were left over mend and her Mana pool begin to drain. She holds out her hoof. "Please....while my spell is up....just take what you need till your healthy....I will be fine...." She whispered. She then nudged her, "Im not taking no for a awnser...Please...."

[Cainiam]

NPC Post: ???

The Necromancer watched his summoned beast wreak havoc from his darkened cliff side. The undead charged and charged again, battering against the wall the Knights made, but the Knights were holding strong again. The unicorn grimaced as he watched some that had fallen back return, led by an earth pony in the armour of the King's Army. More than half of the Knights had fallen and the last line of fortification had become their front line, yet still they fought on. Swords and shields caught the zombies attacks and replied in kind. The Soldier and that crazed mutt made up the difference, the two powerful warriors slashing and striking with ferocity and skill. Between the newcomer and their captain, the Knights were coordinated and battling to the best of their abilities, supporting each other and clashing with new-found resolve. The unicorn couldn't let that happen.

His horn flashed black once more as he jumped into the body of another undead, flinging it at the brave Knight leader, then he switched instantly to another while the first was still leaping, then another, then another. Within a matter of seconds, Ser Perth was battling eight undead at once, striking out with his blade, then shielding himself from the next attack. He was in full block mode, fighting off all the undead at once, even riposting with fatal strikes to two of them, but he wasn't watching the skies. The necromancer smiled gleefully as the pegasus he was controlling smashed headfirst into Ser Perth's spine, shattering it completely as the pegasus burst into pieces. The remaining undead then leapt on the paralysed knight and hacked and slashed, reducing the warrior to nothing. The necromancer smiled as he panted, his mana reserves almost depleted as he waited for them to recharge while watching his Revenant play with the others.

NPC Post: Knights of Redcliffe

The Knights of Redcliffe held in a single staggered line, the survivors fighting on to Cold's brave words, and Ser Perth's tactical advice. That was until Ser Perth was killed. In the space of twenty seconds Ser Perth was overwhelmed by a sudden coordinated mob and hacked to pieces. The second he fell the knights to his left cried. "Ser Perth has fallen! All is lost!" Seemingly melancholic cries sounded out as the news travelled down the line, knights physically sagging as they felt their will sapped in an instant. "Who the bloody hell has command?" Another knight cried, to even more confusion. "By the Maker! We can't last any longer! Fall back to the city!" Another knight cried in response, turning away from the line and starting to gallop away, some of the knights moving as if to follow.

NPC Post Aselia:

Aselia saw the glyph and charged for it, sure in the strength of her bear form against whatever undead forces the enemy could muster. She wasn't prepared for the colossal metal round shield that met her head long charge, smashing into her skull with the force of an out of control lumber wagon and sending her careening through the air. She let out a roar she flew, confused as she flipped head over paw, before smashing into the rock face of the cliff with a pained cry. Her form vanished to be replaced by that of her pony self again, still clad in her clothes as she slid down the wall to slump at the bottom, a trail of blood following her. If anyone were to get in closer they would be able to tell she was still breathing, but that blow to the head had put her out of commission for the battle.

Gossan:

Gossan fought in a surprisingly controlled manner as he stood atop the knight's corpse and helped hold the line. He waited until the undead were close, then attempted to dodge their blow and sever their spinal cord with a single slice, and it was working for the most part. Occasionally two would come at once, or he wouldn't dodge fast enough and would take a blow to the chest or shoulder, but he was tough and sinewy. As long as he directed the blows to those tougher areas, he was fine. The corpses in front of him were mounting up, and his angrier self ached to see some real action, but Gossan's logic ruled the day while he was in charge, and he knew that this line was the only way that they could hold them back for any length of time. He saw Grym return out of the corner of his eye, a grin forming on his muzzle as she gracefully soared in with a shower of blood from her large blade. "Thought I'd have to kill them all myself," Gossan growled gruffly to her before slicing off another Undead head.

A bright light suddenly glowed behind them, and Gossan turned to see a massive creature appear from nowhere, the air heavy with the thick taste of black magic. Gossan heard Grym's words as he turned back to her. "It must die," he said in response to her observation, then nodded his head. "With you," he added, turning away from the line and charging towards the beast along with Grym. The Revenant was already occupied by some of the ranged ponies, so it didn't notice Gossan until he sprinted up to it and leapt onto its armoured back, raising both axes as he leaped and burying them both deep into the creature's armour, gravity carrying them right through the steel and into the flesh beyond.

Boss Post: Revenant

The huge hulking earth pony dragged the griffon through the air towards it, it's tortured mind only instilling it with the urge to kill and maim. The weak griffon would be crushed to a pulp beneath its hooves. It raised its blade as it turned to focus on a batpony cowering over a unicorn that gave off the sweet scent of blood. Easy weakened victims to destroy. It didn't see the arrow until it buried itself in its eyeslit. The Revenant roared in pain and pulled in the wrong direction, dragging the griffon away from him and into a pegasus flying in the other direction. The surprise smash had him release the spell for a moment as it roared and shook itself. A second later however it stilled again and looked up, eyes focusing on the victims once more.

Another unicorn decided to catch his attention by launching a spell at the beast. It's armour was enchanted against most magic, but the magic the mare used seemed to seep right through it and into its flesh, which then burned and seared at the contact. The beast writhed, smoke pouring out of the holes in its armour as it locked vision on the unicorn holding a bow. It broke into a gallop almost instantly huge hooves pounding against the ground as it raised its massive blade then swung it downwards in an arc right at the exact spot Clover was standing in. Before it could check if it hit however a sharp stabbing pain in its back earned a screech as Gossan hit his mark, the massive beast bucking wildly to the side and almost throwing the dog off in a single shake, forcing Gossan to grip his axe handles tight and hold on.

[Travelaway]

Chaos ran through the line as Ser Perth fell, Cold would she'd a tear for him later, truly a poor end to a good stallion, but for now Cold had to keep the line from faultering. He swung his sword in a sweeping motion and cleaved two more of the undead before slamming down on a third. Cold howled aloud, emulating the wolf he wore upon his armor (Activated ability: War Cry). "Don't you budge, any of you! Think of the families of Redcliffe, stand by me and we will survive this. Hold the line, and for Maker's sakes, can anyone see if the militia can help us push a little more?! Don't move backwards, push forwards, put the dam.n pressure on them, we will tear through them!"

Cold smashed into the hoard, weaving disarray amongst their already fractured ranks. He swung upwards, sending two of the decaying monstrosities into the air as they were torn to pieces. As he pushed forward hoping the knights would follow, he began to sing; as with most songs he sang, he knew not it's name, or if it even had one, his only concern was to keep the tune audible for all to hear. This was a song his mother had sung to him once, after one of his fathers tirades had ended with Cold recieving a beating. She sang it to him to let him know it would be okay, that some day he would see a brighter world without his fathers lingering shadow to terrify him, and that some day he would become something far greater. It was a song of hope, and it was ever more powerful now, because his hope was fueled by action.

[SunlightHeart]

Just as Grym prepared to leap into the fray behind Gossan, a commotion from the line drew her attention. Methodically, the undead threw themselves at Sir Perth. Grym knew what the beasts were trying to do. Gang up on the commanding officer, kill him and the knight's moral was forfeit. The bodies of Redcliffe's defenders started piling up more quickly than ever as attention was drawn in an attempt to pull the pressure off of Perth. "I'm behind you, but first..." The mare offhandedly slashed the medulla of a charging zombie, watching as the knight was overwhelmed. She could have jumped in, supported him and the line until the onslaught was over, but it was more important to kill the monstrous undead that Gossan was engaging than to save Perth's life. In death he and his men would provide exactly what she needed.

She knew that Gossan would survive during her short detour, but she was sure to make haste, not wanting to let the mutt have all the fun. Rushing blades first into the swarm that had massacred Perth, Grym brought both of her blades to bare on different targets. With each mental flick, her swords swiped, lobbing off limbs and decapitating foul minions left and right. Ichor flowed like honeyed wine in the promised lands, quickly staining the dirt around her and Perth's corpse various shades of blacks, greens, and yellows. After clearing out the immediate threats, Grym gave the area around her a quick once over. Fresh corpses littered the line. A sick grin slowly spread across the mare's muzzle as she took it all in. Off to her left, her ears picked up a weak gurgle. Turning her attention to the sound, Grym found herself staring into the frightened, pleading eyes of one of Perth's knights, his throat slash and gushing blood as he fought against the coming stillness. One hoof was pressed against his wound, frantically trying to stymie the bleed, but his efforts were for naught, the dark blade that pierced his chest saw to that.

Grym took a deep breath, letting the knight's life energy flow through her and revitalize every once of her form. "More corpses for the grave diggers," she muttered quiettly, pulling the blade out with a meat *sleck* sound. Grym gaze down at Perth's brutalized corpse and the corpses of his brothers in arms, smirking, "And more life for the living." Dark red magic overtook her horn and pulsed through her body, forming a large pool of energy at her hooves that looked not unlike coagulated blood (Activated Ability: Devour). The strange energy licked at each corpse, drawing the last motes of life from the freshly slain stallions and fueling Grym. Her body shivered with renewed vigor as gashes knitted themselves back together, becoming more minor cuts and over extended muscles and green sticks fractured mended until they were nothing more than dull aches throughout her body. It was exactly what she needed. In death, these ponies were infinitely more useful to her than they were alive.

Not caring who had seen her actions, Grym shouldered her way through the remaining knights, eventually exiting the line. Gossan was already engaging the summoned abomination. Waiting until she saw and opening, the warden charged, both of her weapons primed for a strike. It was after Clover, but Gossan had stalled it's kill blow. With the dog on it's back, Grym figured that she'd claim it's chest as her target. She slide to a halt in front of Clover's aggressor and let her blades speak of her disapproval, swing viciously for its chest (Activated Ability: Punisher).

[Dabom444]

Broken still had her hoof held out to Midnight. Her mouth opened to yell at Midnight but it was cut short when the large titan charged nad began attacking again. The knights began to run and everything began to crumble evermore faster.

She gave a sigh and took a blade from a undead who was slain. Taking it upon herself she fished a cracked cup out of her sadlebags. She sliced her leg deep so that a major vein was cut. She squeaked in pain and seeped the pouring blood into the cup before letting her spell she casted earlier mended her flesh. She felt lightheaded now but shook her head and snapped out of it.

"Midnight drink this please....I need my mana for supporting the others so i know this will help us both." She said pushing it close to her and wrapping her in a quick hug. "Thank you Midnight, Our party needs us." She whispered.

She trotted out of the cover to examine the fight, Gossan and grym were both fighting the abomonation and seemed to be doing well. Then a bolt resembling a healing spell seemed to cause great pain to the beast. She gave a small hum, if she could cast a few spells as well perhaps she could be offensive with her allies.

Making a quick turn she galloped off the help her friends. She saw one Knight running away even though the others attempted to keep everyone in the battle.

"Wait! Stop! You need to stay!!" She yelled.

The knight tried to push her over and caused her to stumble. She shoved against him and pushed him backwards, Nearly pushing him over. "I said stay!!" She squeaked.

The stallion tried to get past her but to no avail. "Get out of my way!! We are all going to..."

*Smack*

Broken had slapped the stallion across the cheek causing him to cry out in surprise. His eyes looked at her with shock as she grabbed his shoulders and shook him firmly, her eyes showing complete seriousness. "You need to snap the heck out of it and get some courage!! Those are your brothers and sisters dieing out there and they need your help! If you dont make a stand here and now you will lose so much!! You might buy yourself a little time but you will die a coward! Is that how you want yourself to be seen as? Be strong!"

The stallion shook his head. "B...but i will get slaughtered!!"

Broken shook her head in return. "There is always the risk of this!! We all die in time but its how we face it is how it matters! And if we fight viciously for what we believe in we can have a chance of extending our time on this world!!! We can all do this! We need to try till the last seconds!! And if we do die at least we can be called heroes for trying!!"

The stallion stopped and listened to her. His eyes blinked a few times as he tried to decode all the small mare said. It took only a few moments before he whimpered and shook his head. "F...fine!! You're right....you're Right!!" He shouted before taking his blade in hoof and turning to pick up his shield. "Alright.......ALRIGHT!!! FOR REDCLIFFE!!" He yelled as he charged forward and swung for the beast's hind legs as it bucked.

Broken scanned the area for her beacon. She found it within the chaos, She sprinted off to it and knocked undead out of her way the best she could. Zig zagging around foes she managed to slide to her staff and grab it with her hooves. The staff lit up once more and the healing tingle came over the area it covered.

Her eyes fell on Grym and Gossan, She needed to charge her spell and if she casted it through the gem on her staff she could focus it to be more persice. Her horn began to glow and she focused on generating her mana through the gem. She could do this, She could be offensive.

[Walker]

There wasn’t much that crossed the small pegasus’ mind as he managed to find the group of ponies he had arrived with, other than the creature that they had tasked themselves with fighting was not something he really wanted to tangle with. Sure, maybe if his wings still worked he could fly up and peck at its head with his knife. But from the ground, with this limp… he didn’t like his odds. Still, he had to do something… He gave a quick whistle and waved up at the group of pegasi he had been directing earlier, bringing them down to his level, letting him talk as fast as he could. “I’m going to need a rock weighted net, we have to restrict his movements and those little fishing hooks aren’t going to cut it now.” He paused, before waving his hoof. “Mind the dog! If he’s still on its back, do not drop the net. Believe me, if your stupidity doesn’t kill him, he’ll make you wish it did! And do not set it on fire. This thing could do enough damage as is, we don’t need a blazing tower of zombie flesh trying to eat us.” He chuckled, before grimacing. Probably not the best time. Quickly, they took off, hopefully to follow his advice, rather than ignoring him for whatever they sought fit. It really wasn’t in Tune’s nature to be a leader or a commander. He left that to others with more drive then himself. But when it was thrust upon you…

He glanced through the surging mass of bodies around the Revenant, his eyes stopping for a second on the downed pegasus and the unicorn. He paused, the pegasus looking awfully familiar… Oh… right… she had threatened to kill him earlier. He raised a single eyebrow before patting his bag, realizing her had next to nothing left. No tricks, no gizmos, just raw, unadulterated skill.

“Well, horsefeathers. I might as well just leap into the big fellow’s jaws then.” He muttered, dashing towards the monster and deciding that any pathetic swing on his part would hardly do anything… more likely than not get his blade stuck in its skin… He sighed, before pushing away the nearest undead, jamming his knife in its skull as he tried to maintain enough of a space around the Revenant, and let the real warriors handle the fight themselves, with no worry about being stabbed in the back.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight was happy that Broken had gotten up, but, when the Unicorn told her to feed of HER, that caught Midnight off guard. How did she know, was Midnight's biggest question. She hadn't been around Broken much, yet the mare knew that blood healed her. Maybe, Grym? Maybe she knew it helped Grym, and her. However she knew, Midnight shook her head, protesting the healers demands. If Midnight fed from Broken until she was statified and healed, she would surely suck the mare dry, and that was a bad idea.

That's when Broken cut herself, and the blood poured into the cup. In Midnight's eyes, they didn't wather from the red liquid pooling into the cup, and she had to fight her instincts, which said 'Pin her and drink her dry!' Broken left to help the others, and the moment she did, Midnight looked at the blood, her aching body was screaming at her to drink it. But she couldn't, for many reasons.

The first was the rumours, about Warden blood. If what she heard of them was true, then drinking their blood wasn't the first thing she should do. Her colony had spoken about corrupted blood that poisons the body and soul, and Midnight didn't want to drink it unless it was necessary. The second reason was, Broken was her 'friend', and Midnight didn't want to fed of her because of that reason.

Midnight stood up, the blood slowly leaking from her cuts, as she looked at the vast number of undead on the battlefield. She looked at the bowl of Brokens' blood, before leaving it. She wouldn't fed from her friend, not unless she was moments away from dying.

Crossbow raised, Midnight started firing at the large undead creature, but quickly changed her mind as she spotted the undead Pegasi still in the sky. Midnight knew in her state, flying up there with them wouldn't be the best call. Instead, she raised her crossbow and started firing up in the sky, most of the bolts hitting their mark. She couldn't help with the large creature, but maybe she could reduce the number in the sky.

[TheUsurper]

"Gyah!" Archon suddenly found himself losing all his momentum towards the revenant and being flung unceremoniously into another pegasus. He shook his head to clear away the stars as he clambered quickly to his feet, dusting himself down and checking his equipment. His bow was still fine, thank goodness, as was most of the rest of him. His cloak was slightly torn, but it had suffered through worse. He would mend it later.

He turned around and offered a quick apology to the pegasus whom he had crashed into before taking to the skies once more, but now wobbly and unsteadily. He landed soon afterwards. I don't think I can fly in this state. He glanced down at his limbs. Just have to use these old things then.

He dashed off on his hind legs, lifting his bow into the air and notching another arrow. He tried to get as good an aim as he could, once again, at the eye-slit of the revenant. Then it occurred to him that taking this thing down might be beyond him; it didn't have any obvious weaknesses, and the others seemed to be having much more of an effect on it, if its screeching was any indication. If there was anything he could do, it wouldn't likely be worth the effort. There was, however, a much larger undead army that would probably tear their ranks apart with equal or greater effectiveness if left unattended.

He turned his attention to the front line of the knights, felling several of the foremost undead with arrows to the neck. He kept reloading and firing, trying to keep as much pressure of the front line as possible. Every pony dead was one less that could defend the town. And if the town fell he might even have to give the Mayor a refund.

[Hundashter]

Clover widened her eyes in surprise as she saw how effective her spell had been, shocked that it actually worked. She didn't have time to enjoy her small victory however, as the Revenant turned to her and swung its sword down at her head. Her eyes now filled with fear and realization rather than surprise, as she realized she had no time to dodge or block its attack. She was most certainly going to die. She watched the blade descending upon her seemingly in slow motion, due to the adrenaline in her body enhancing her perception of time.

Many things ran through her mind now, one of them being how incredible it was that the mind could think of so much in such a short time. Like her time in the tower, the friends she'd had and lost there, her discovery of the mirror in the basement, and through it her training in the forgotten arts of the Arcane Warrior. The discovery of her bow and all the time she'd spent training with it. Her escape and the death of the young mage it'd caused. Her running into the group of ponies she was currently with, and many more things.

It wasn't quite her entire life flashing before her eyes she realized, but more or less the best parts mixed with the worst along with those times she regretted and those times she wished to experience again. She wondered if that was a double positive, and in turn wondered why at such a time as her inevitable death, her mind would think about something so mundane as her thought potentially being a redundant one.

And as the blade was now about to pierce her flesh, and cleave her skull in two, ending all thoughts forever, she had one final thought. At least she wouldn't die a virgin, thanks to Aselia.

However, death would not take her this day it seemed, for as the blade connected with her horn and passed right through, it did so as though she wasn't even there. In fact, it continued to pass through her body as thoug hshe were some type of ghost, easily sliding straight through her head as her eyes went cross to watch it passing between them, down through her neck and into her torso.

Now, all thought had stopped as though she'd died. All except one great, big, glaring thought that echoed through her entire being as she watched the blade slice out through her side as the Revenant was attacked and jerked his weapon away from the spell casting mare.

...what?

She then realized she felt strange, as though she wasn't entirely there, like what she was seeing wasn't where she actually was. She felt like this for a few more seconds before crashing back quite suddenly and unexpectedly, falling on her face on the bloody ground. She gasped and groaned as her horn felt like it was being crushed, and she had the worst headache she'd ever felt in her life. Instinctively she reached inwards towards her reserves of magic to cast a heal spell upon herself, only to find no magic there whatsoever. She was utterly dry, her inner pool of magic nothing but a feeling of emptiness in her soul.

of course, this caused her to panic and scrabble upon the ground towards the nearest cover she could find, which just so happened to be a pile of rotting zombie pony bodies, but she didn't care at this point. She clutched her bow tightly to her chest and tried to calm her breathing as best she could while racking her brain as to what just happened. She couldn't cast any more magic, but at least she wasn't dead. She thought feverishly, forcing herself to try and find a reason for it, until she remembered something the mirror had told her long ago. A skill, taught to Arcane Warriors of the highest tier. The mirror had taught her all it knew, telling her that limitations on magic were only the limitations of the mage, and that she would grow strong enough to use any power she put her mind to.

The skill was called Fade Shroud, ( http://dragonage.wik...i/Fade_Shroud�� ) and was one of if not the most powerful ability in an Arcane Warriors arsenal. it placed the user partially in the fade, allowing them to periodically avoid a blow, but she had never been in a fight before these last few days, so she'd never felt any effect it had other than the constant regeneration of her mana. She hadn't realized it would feel like THIS though, she hadn't been ready for it at all! How could anypony be ready to receive a death blow, only for it to harmlessly pass through them, especially when they hadn't remembered they had a skill that could potentially do such a thing at all!?!?

She swallowed, now shivering behind the pile of corpses. She still could feel no mana residing in her body and it scared her. She'd been born with mana, lived her whole life with it flowing through her body in some capacity, and to suddenly not feel it was jarring to say the least, akin to loosing a limb and still feeling as though it was there, phantom limb syndrom she surmised.

Slowly, she got to her shaking hooves and took in the scene of combat around her. She was still in shock, but somehow she felt like she could still contribute. Glancing down at her bow, she realized that with no mana, it was just a wooden stick with glowy rock inside. She'd never felt so helpless before in her life. And that's when she remembered the figure on the wall she'd seen earlier as the Revenant was appeared.

Frantically, she gazed about the battlefield trying to spot somepony who could use her information that she could get to, and finally spotted the griffon from earlier. She forced herself towards him, still shaking but she managed to avoid any more conflict until she got to him. She was out of breath and spoke with a stammer, but she hoped he understood what she was saying as she frantically gestured towards the figure high above while she spoke. " T-t-theres..s-s-someo-one u-up t-t-t-the-r-re! I-I-I t-thi-i-ink-ik th-th-they'r-r-re c-contro-oling t-the m-m-mons-s-stors! "

[TheUsurper]

Archon managed to pick off several more undead until Clover stumbled to his side, stammering. He was about to tell her to calm down and take a rest, until he heard her say what she had said. "A..." He glanced upwards, and true enough, there it was. "I see. Thank you. Now get somewhere safe, I'll take care of this. Don't you dare die on me. Get yourself healed, if you can." He was a little far from that figure high up, but he figured that he could take it. He'd killed harder ones, in his time. Nothing escaped his arrow.

He levelled the bow at the figure's head and notched an arrow. "Steady... steady..." He muttered to himself. This one shot might decide the entire battle; he couldn't afford to mess up. He had to take time to aim until he was as sure of his success as he could be. "... There."

He pulled the bowstring back a little further. "I'll see you in Tartarus." He fired. At the same time, he drew out another arrow and notched it, preparing for the eventuality of his failure.

[Cainiam]

NPC Post: Knights of Redcliffe

The defensive line the knights had formed was slowly starting to dissolve as fear and panic spread throughout the ranks. Just as a group prepared to peel off and follow the lone bolter, the howl of a wolf made them all freeze and shut up. Only the knights currently scrapping continuing the noises of combat as Cold bellowed his morale boosting speech, pushing the knights to not only hold, but to advance. To attack. Had anypony else said it, they would probably have just been written off as crazy, but something about the strength of Cold's voice bade them to consider it. Then the advance began. Cold pushed forwards, most of the remaining Knights moving in step as he sang a song. A song of hope. Of strength. Of bravery. The knights clad themselves in the music, using it as armour to shrug off blows as they advanced hacking at undead with precision and tenacity as they moved.

A few knights held position for a little longer, injuries sapping their strength and will beyond reparation by a powerful tune, and what they saw was enough to make them question their allegiances. The warden fought to Ser Perth's corpse, slaying his killers and getting revenge. Something admirable. But then it changed. Her face darkened, as seemingly did the very air around her. Their blood seemingly drained from their bodies to mend her own injuries. "Maleficar! The Warden's a blood mage!" one of the knights cried, but his companions were already pushing forwards, too caught up in their songs to pay attention. He scrambled to his hooves, and began to run for the village, attempting to push past the Revenant. An untimely misstep ensured he didn't make it however.

NPC Post: Revenant

The Revenant bucked ferociously to try and swing the canine buried into its back off, the axes having bitten into the seared flesh beneath its armour and causing actual pain to the creature. Its very hoofsteps shook the ground as the massive weighted things fell to the ground. A fleeing knight found out the hard way that the hooves were as heavy as they sounded as the beast stumbled back and one landed squarely on the pony's back, crushing it into the ground with a sickly snap of bone. Another knight tried to hack at its legs, blade swinging desperately and pinging off of the heavy armour. A swift kick to the chest caved in the knights armour completely and sent him somersaulting onto his back, clutching at his chest as it became one with his chestplate, blood soaking it before he fell back dead. It pushed itself downwards, then leapt upwards with such force one of the axes popped out and Gossan was sent flying off of the beast, barely landing on his paws at the last moment.

As soon as Gossan was off, the Revenant span to see the results of its hit, but saw nothing but a deep gouge in the earth where its blade had struck. It had no time to contemplate this before a pair of blades crushed into its armour, once, then twice. Then came the third time with such force that it actually misshaped the armour with the force of its impact. The Revenant barely took a step backwards however, the weight of the beast supporting itself easily even against such a forceful blow. Grym would have barely time to react before the beast replyed with a swing of its own sword at the comparatively small mare that dared to stare it down. The colossal steel greatsword carried inequine weight as it tore towards the mare.

Gossan:

Gossan skittered to a stop on his paws, before clutching at his arms. His left forearm had been pulled so hard it had dislocated. With a loud snap and a howl he clicked it back into place before focusing on his enemy. He could feel his bloodlust trying to take control and make him go berserk, but he needed his clarity for this fight. He could handle the pain. To fight this beast he needed to fight smart. He grabbed up one of his waraxes from the ground, along with a throwing one from a nearby corpse, then burst out towards the fight, moving to help as the Revenant swung for Grym. He was there in an instant, cutting through a few lesser undead and giving a passing nod to Tune before sliding underneath the massive undead creature and raising both of his axes and burying them into the creature's chest as he slid along, raising them up above and cutting deep into the weakened armour and into the creature's flesh before emerging the other side and diving away from a responding sword sweep.

NPC Post: ???

Somehow, despite all the necromancer's efforts the tide was turning. The knights began to not only survive, but push forwards. His Revenant was being slowly beaten by a group of ponies working together to dance around it. He was running out of options. Just when he though at least one of these new mercenaries was going to die, he felt a powerful link to the Fade coming from her, and then she vanished. For a moment everything was gone except the two of them in an empty land of floating rock. He stared down at her and she looked up at him. His horn sparked black and then they were both returned to the real world, but he could see her looking up at him even as she came back, pointing out his vantage point.

An arrow sailed through the air, fired by the griffon, but undead pegasi fell over themselves to catch the arrow, the winner so desperate it took a kill shot just to stop the arrow's flight. The necromancer frowned again, before hopping down from his ledge, dropping three stories before his horn glowed and his descent was stopped almost instantly. He vanished into his horde, melting away into the mass of undead as if he was never there. Clover however, would suddenly find a lot of undead pegasi switching their current targets to come for her. At least fifteen flying in from different directions to bear down on her and the griffon who had fired the arrow, with only one thing on their minds. To kill them.